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Topic: My garden is in (Read 2192 times)

So after 18 yrs of growing really good weeds, and lots of them. I finally put in a vegtable garden. Not sure how it is going to work out but it should be safe from the goats, llama and deer as it is inside the electric fence that protects my bee yard (not sure about rabits). I also moved my two small cherry trees into the same area, they have never been able to get going on account of the deer so hopefully now they will at least have a chance.For my first year I just put in the following,Corn, Peas, Beans, Cabbage, Lettuce, green peppers & broccoli.

I am also considering some fruits, strawberries, blueberries, rasberries etc.

Congrats, gardens are great fun. I love being able to go out and pick fresh produce that I grew myself.My kids are involved so its even better.Our last frost isn't for another 2 weeks so I could only plant peas and potatoes so far.Post some pics when you get a chance.

Vegetable gardening is among the top passions in my life. Over the past 4 years, I have had increasing problems with deer and racoons destroying it, so I am considering building an entirely fenced off garden, but it will be a huge project, so I won't start it until this fall, most likely.This year, I am growing tomatoes, cukes, zucchini and yellow squash, peppers, and I am still waiting to find eggplant transplants (they aren't out at the local nurseries yet), and watermelon.Wishing you the best of gardening seasons. Let us know how it does.:)

Hey you guys! My wife put in potatoes and the seem to be doing good!....But, Janelle keeps burying them in dirt when they get bigger....is this really the thing to do with potatoes? My half of the garden has tomatoes, peppers, cantalopes, strawberries, cucumbers peas, bee balm, lemon balm, and wintergreen..Oh yeh....Icicle radishes too!

EDIT: I was replying while you were, John, potatoes, yes keep burying them (not positive how long) but they're nightshade plants and when you bury most of the green stuff it turns to roots and grows 'taters on it.- I tried it with my tomatoes too and the stem will add root as you pile dirt up - it delays them setting fruit but the advantage I found was I piled up about a foot last year and the base grew thick enough I didn't need stakes. (one of the very few plants that did ok without the bees around)

John I know it sounds strange but Janelle is doing it right. You bury the stalk so that new tubers will set above the last set.The short version is that as the plant grows and you keep adding dirt it causes it to set more tubers.You probably only do it 3 times or so and then you let them go. The plant itself will turn yellow and die off, you can harvest the potatoes when the plant starts to turn and get the small taters or you can wait for the plant to die off and then get them when they are larger.

It doesnt look like much right now....Janelle and I decided to split the garden in half....She never tended the garden any in the past years, but she insisted on doing it again this year...so I said" this is your half and this is my half"...Now its a contest!!! I have a mantis sort of tiller, along with a nice big tiller now too! I bet, when I use the little tiller, I can make the dirt pile up on my tomatoes! Ive never heard of that but it sounds like you know what youre talking about! I only have about 8 tomato plants( and 2 Mr stripeys pending getting put in) and about five or 6 pepper plants...This aoughtta be enuff tomatoes and peppers to feed the whole naborhood....(hmmmm....I am the naborhood! I forgot!)

My strawberry and rasberry plants lasted one day, guess if my fence will not keep goats out then I have no chance with the bears.I fixed the fence by adding two more rows of wire and pulled everything good and tight, I also added two more ground rods just to help out.I keep asking the kids to touch the wire to see if it is working but no luck so far :)

I just saw this garden online that used pvc pipes to grow vegetables in.They cut the tops off, almost in half or maybe even in half so that it was like a gully and they put it all along a fence and they grew strawberries and lettuce in them.I don't know how safe the material is for growing in but it was creative, then someone else did the same thing with gutters.I'll see if I can find the site.

Congratulations on the vegetable garden. If you haven't come across it yet I recommend checking out Steve Solomen's book, "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades". An excellent primer for organic gardening in this part of the world and IMO an entertaining read.

If there are rabbits in your area you'll need to add rabbit fence, set 6" into the ground. It's relatively cheap but a pain to install. That said it'll save your veg, fruit canes and fruit trees which for some reason I'll never understand the rabbits like to "choke" stripping the bark all the way around at the base. Don't know what this is called but it kills young fruit trees in short order.

This is the site I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread.I don't know how safe it is to grow food in pvc because I have not looked into it but if it is safe to do this is a great way to gain space in the garden.